HUD steps in with funding for N.O. East hospital

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

quick loans in clarksville tn Residents in New Orleans East will soon have healthcare options closer to home, Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced Oct. 1, as the Department of Housing and Urban Development has agreed to commit nearly $100 million to construct a hospital on the site of the old Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital.

More than $30 million for the project will come from non-federal sources to build what the city describes as a “full-service hospital,” according to a statement announcing the federal funding. Pendleton Hospital closed in 2005 following severe flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane payday advance browns plains Katrina.

“This is an important milestone,” Landrieu said, “that could not have been achieved without the commitment, collaboration and ration and hard work of the board and local legislators. We are now one very important step closer to achieving our goal. The strength of the U.S. Government is now behind the financing of the New Orleans East Hospital and we will continue to move forward to bring this full service hospital to the New Orleans East community.”

The federal funds will come in the form of a mortgage loan backed by the Federal Housing how to use personal loans Administration and will allow construction to begin on the new facility. The city has spent millions to secure the old Pendleton site, but has been aided by charitable contributions to help finance the sale of the land to the city from the site’s former owners.

The city has also received federal grants to help pay for equipment in the new hospital.

Recently, city officials entered into an agreement with Daughters of Charity and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady to operate the new hospital, receiving a $2 million commitment from personal loans comparison calculator the Daughters of Charity Foundation.

“Securing this funding is a critical milestone for the New Orleans East community and our entire city as we continue towards our goal of a full-service hospital,” said Dr. Karen DeSalvo, the city’s health commissioner. “We have been working extremely hard with a singular focus towards our goal.”

Plans, however, have yet to be announced about when the city will break ground on the project.

This article was originally published in the October 8, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper